The Ebola virus, once considered incurable, has plagued Africa for more than 40 years. Since 1976, nearly 30,000 people have caught Ebola, and more than 11,000 have died. It's often gone silent for years only to reemerge unexpectedly, catching hospitals, governments, and global organizations off-guard.

But scientists might be closing in on a successful treatment. Earlier this month, The New York Times reported two new treatments for the disease work 90% of the time. They'll be given to all patients in the Democratic Republic of Congo from now on.

Here's how Ebola began, where it's spread, and how it went from killing tens of thousands to being on the verge of a cure.

Ebola is transferred through direct contact with infected blood, vomit, or sweat — often absorbed through broken skin or the eyes, nose, or mouth. During the first outbreak, nurses reportedly used five syringes on up to 600 patients a day. This didn't help stem the deadly virus.

Two nurses standing in front of the third Ebola case in 1976, who later died in Zaire.Wikimedia

But four workers who were exposed didn't get sick, and scientists discovered that it was the one strain which wasn't harmful to humans. The incident was the topic of the National Geographic mini-series "The Hot Zone" that aired this year, based on the book of the same name.

In 1994, 15 years after the last Ebola outbreak in Africa, several chimpanzees were found dead in Taï National Park, in Ivory Coast. When three researchers found a dead chimp, they dissected it on the spot. Little more than a week later, one of the researchers, a Swiss woman, had Ebola. She made a full recovery six weeks later. It was a one-off case.

Red Cross workers carry the body of a woman who died of the Ebola virus.
Reuters

Also in 1995, the disease hit the mainstream with the American film "Outbreak," inspired by the terror surrounding Ebola. In the fictional film, a viral outbreak makes its way to the US, causing a national emergency.

In 1996 and 1997, Gabon had two breakouts both related to hunting. Forty-five people died after a hunter in a logging camp caught Ebola. And 21 people died from it when hunters ate a dead chimpanzee. In 2001, 53 more people died from it in an area where lots of inexplicably dead animals were found. Bushmeat is a cheap source of protein in Africa, and touching or eating it has often led to people getting infected with Ebola.

Uganda reported 224 Ebola deaths in 2000, and 42 in 2007. Despite not being a new disease, the early symptoms are similar to flu and an upset stomach, meaning there were often false reports and delays in diagnosing it.

People suspected of being infected with the Ebola virus in northern Uganda.Sayyid Azim / AP

In 2004, a victim died from Ebola in Russia in an unusual way. Scientist Antonina Presnyakova was working on a vaccine at a state research center, which used to specialize in turning deadly viruses into biological weapons. She accidentally injected herself with the virus and died.

In 2008, Ebola was found in four pigs in the Philippines. The pigs were infected with the Reston strain, which is the same strain of Ebola that had been found in monkeys. While it wasn't dangerous to humans, authorities were concerned that the virus had jumped species, since pigs are closer to humans in the way they carry viruses.

Piglets are seen at a small family farm outside the quarantined commercial pig farm infected with Ebola-Reston virus in Pandi town north of Manila on January 8, 2009.Romeo Gacad / AFP / Getty

Several workers who handled the pigs did catch the strain, but remained healthy. It was the first case of the virus moving from pig to human. And there were fears that pigs could transmit the lethal Ebola strains, especially since humans spend a lot more time around pigs than with bats or monkeys.

In late 2013, the worst Ebola outbreak ever began in Guinea. It later spread to Liberia and Sierra Leone. Two of the biggest reasons for the rapid spread of Ebola was the movement of infected people and the way people were buried.

Kissi Dembadouno lost his wife, daughter and two grandchildren to Ebola.Jerome Delay / AP

The first reported case was a 2-year-old boy, who was likely bitten by an infected bat in a bush near a small border town in Guinea. Known as Patient Zero, the boy died after presenting symptoms of a fever and vomiting. The risk for Ebola is highest where land-use has recently changed — like areas of recently logged forest, which cause people to venture deeper into bush, often when hunting.

Etienne Ouamouno, stands by the kapok tree where scientists say his two-year-old son might have contracted Ebola from bats.Misha Hussain / Reuters

The only way to stop Ebola is to identify infected people, isolate them, and then track down everyone they'd been in contact with. But since there was no cure, some people questioned the point of going to hospital at all.

In Liberia, many people were turning to traditional healers for treatment. Sometimes exorcisms were performed to rid people of the disease, and fake cures were being sold at markets. Some healers were telling people to rub their bodies with lime and onions.

People continued to attend burials and touch the dead as part of local customs. Ebola victims are most infectious just after they've died, so traditional burials were helping spread the disease. Early in the 2014 outbreak, 365 cases of Ebola were traced back to the burial of a local healer.

To limit contamination, the Red Cross conducted burials, attempting to bury the bodies as soon as possible, preferably in body bags, and sanitizing families after ceremonies. But in Liberia, there weren't enough people to collect bodies. According to an employee at Africa Development Corps, bodies were left out on the streets. In Clara Town, Liberia, two victims were left in their house for three days before being removed.

Burial workers wearing protective gear carry the remains of Mussa Kathembo, an Islamic scholar who had prayed over those who were sick, in Beni, Congo.Jerome Delay / AP

The local media didn't help ease people's fears. People were so afraid that a man in Conakry, Guinea, was left in the middle of the road for nearly five hours after collapsing, even though it wasn't clear whether he had the virus.

News paper headlines on Ebola story's. One reads 'Burn all bodies' in the city of Monrovia, Liberia.Jonathon Paye-Layleh / AP

By September 2014, Ebola had made its way to the US, through Thomas Eric Duncan, who was infected when he arrived in Dallas. He died from it, and the two nurses who treated him caught the virus. They survived.

In total, four people in the US died from the virus, including Dr. Martin Salia in Nebraska. But after films like "Outbreak," and news that one of the infected nurses had caught a domestic flight the day before she was admitted, people were terrified. Especially since there was no cure.

Medical Director of the Biocontainment Unit speaks during a press conference following the death of Dr. Martin Salia.Eric Francis / Getty

Two-thirds of Americans were worried about an Ebola epidemic, according to a Washington Post and ABC News poll. Then-President Barack Obama told America the danger of contracting the disease was extraordinary low. But people traveling began to wear sanitary masks ...

... while others called for travel bans to the infected West African countries. As The Daily Beast's Scott Bixby wrote, "No matter the reassurances of medical professionals, the public, who have seen movies like 'Outbreak' and 'Contagion', fear the introduction of Ebola to America; of something disastrous happening; of it getting out."

A sign reading "Stop the Flights!" while demonstrating in favor of a travel ban to stop the spread of the Ebola virus, in front of the White House in Washington.Jim Bourg / Reuters

The travel bans were rejected and the US provided Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone with $6 billion worth of aid. But it wasn't until January 2016 that the United Nations stated for the first time that the outbreak had been stopped, and no new cases had been reported.

A child stands near a sign advising of a quarantined home in Sierra Leone.Michael Duff / AP

It was concerning because the outbreak was on the river, in an area where people traveled and traded. But the virus was stopped after three months, and 4,000 vaccinations. Between April and June, 33 people died of Ebola.

A trader transports livestock by canoe on the Congo river near the port in Mbandaka, Congo.Sam Mednick / AP

Foreign health workers were feared and not trusted. In 2019, two Congolese health workers were killed in their homes. And African governments were being accused on social media of creating Ebola to profit off Western aid.

Health workers push an Ebola patient who escaped from quarantine from Monrovia's Elwa hospital, into an ambulance.Reuters

In February 2019, things took a turn for the worse when humanitarian organization Doctor’s Without Borders left DRC. Its workers had been attacked 150 times in a year. Five aid workers were killed, and 50 were injured.

In July 2019, the World Health Organization declared the Ebola outbreak a global health emergency again. It had already considered making the declaration three times. It announced the designation in July, because it had been going on for a year, the disease had reached Goma, a city with 2 million people, it had reappeared in areas already thought to be contained, and the epidemic was nearing Rwanda and Uganda.

A woman being discharged from an Ebola treatment center is sprayed with disinfectant.Jerome Delay / AP

Finally, in August 2019, new experimental treatments were declared to be working on patients 90% of the time. The treatments were mixtures of antibodies injected into people's bloodstreams. Scientists planned to offer it to all patients. Now that there was a high chance of being cured, researchers hope people will start going to hospitals to be treated.

A health worker fills a syringe with Ebola vaccine before injecting it to a patient.Baz Ratner / Reuters

Although the DRC outbreak hadn't been stopped, there is now hope. Jean-Jacques Muyembe, director general of the Institut National de Recherche Biomedicale, which monitored the vaccine trial in DRC said: "From now on, we will no longer say that Ebola is incurable."

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